Intro to New Worlds 101
by Just call me Angels
Summary: [AU"Toto, you can screw Kansas…….I don’t even think we are on Earth anymore…"
1. Intro to New Worlds 101

Intro/summary: This story, so far, has no plotline. Well, sort of. I have a few ideas of things I want to put in the story, but my overall plot is still undecided, so you can expect a lot of unexpected things (if that makes any sense). It might end up being romance, it might end up being lemon, and it might end up being one of those save the world deals, but I'm not too sure. I'll probably change the title byt the time I think up of something. As you can tell, I'm and Angelique fan, and I have played through the super famicom / snes version of it. This is an AU story (another universe), set sometime after the Angelique / Dia exam, but before the Callot / Rachel one. The main character's name is spelled properly, mind you. I didn't make the same 'mistake' fifty times in one chapter. ;) Anywho, I've been meaning to do an Angelique story for sometime now, and from my musings, this was born. Hopefully now I'll be more active with my other stories. ;; There a few 'vulgar' words I the story, but at most, it's PG-13.

Disclaimer: Original Angelique characters, Angelique, and other copyrighted items do not belong to me, but to some other people. Etc.

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Intro. To New Worlds 101

A lazy yawn was given as its owner struggled out of her desk, wiping the sleeping sand from her eyes. Chemistry had been such a drag. It's not that it was difficult, or boring, but some punk kids kept getting the teacher off subject for a half an hour or so, and whatever they were talking about was boring. Alyson just couldn't help but sleep. The bell had just rang, and everyone sprinted out of the class, while she was still trying to wake up.

This was bad.

Her grades were suffering severely, and she really needed to pull together and work hard.

Maybe later though….

She slowly paced out of the classroom and made her way to her locker. The halls were almost completely empty, save for a few miscellaneous students here and there. She glanced at her watched and then whistled.

"Five after three, that's got to be a new record."

It was the weekend, but it normally took about ten minutes or so for the school to empty out. There must have been a party somewhere right after school. Alyson shrugged and went about her way to her locker. She put the combination in her lock, and upon opening the door of her locker, stared into the messy catacombs. Books, papers, and whole bunch of other various crap were sloppily lying about everywhere in her little hole. Alyson silently had an argument with herself over what to do as she stared into the paper abyss.

Side one: I really don't want to…

Side two: Well I have to. I must study otherwise I'll flunk

Side one: Well I never do.

Side two: It'll be different this time. I will force myself to study, but the first step is taking the books home.

Side one: They'll just end up being ignored like all the other times

Side two: No

Yes

No

Yes

Alyson sighed deeply. Yes, it was that same problem again. She really needed to study, but she really didn't want to. Often times she would bring books home with good intentions, only to have set them aside and neglect them. The chances of her actually studying something at home were slim to none. She could save herself the trouble of caring the books home and making sure to bring them back if she just left them in her locker, but then she'd get this nagging feeling inside of her if she actually did leave those accursed objects in their tomb. She glared into her locker before deciding to just take the damn things home. At least it was an attempt, and though it would more than likely fail like all other previous attempts, it was an attempt none the less. Alyson starting piling the books on the floor, one top of another: Pre-calculus, Chemistry, random book for unneeded class #1, American History, "Advanced" French a.k.a. French 3, random book for unneeded class #2, American Lit, and Biology.

"That has to be the ugliest 20 pounds of paper and cardboard I've ever seen."

She slammed her locker shut and hoisted her books up to her midriff. High School was such a drag, and not the cigarette kind, mind you. Alyson carefully made her way out to the student parking lot, trying her best to keep the leaning tower o' school books from toppling. Aside from that, the girl had another obstacle to over come: doors. Both of her hands were being taken up by the insane amount text the school board decided was 'necessary for the highest level of learning and challenges for students in the current school curriculum'. Alyson saw a guy exit from the same door, just little bit in front of her; with any luck, she'd be able to catch the door before it closed. She sped her pace up a little bit, but as her books started to wobble she had to stop completely to catch them from falling. slam

"…"

The door had just shut. She mentally cursed herself and those blasted books. If she had left them in her locker, she would have been long gone by now. Well, it's nice to see how chivalrous people were now a days. Once Alyson had the books settled, she slowly started to back into the door. She could lightly push it open with her back and then turn forward and walk to her car. Where she expected to meet with the door she found nothing but air, and leaned into nothing. She came falling backwards, books tagging along, and crashed onto the cement outside. A toothy grin was being showed and she glanced upwards. It belonged to one of her fellow juniors - just another unimportant person she didn't bother to get to know.

'Mental note, get that kid back later'.

After a few minutes of teasing, laughing, and picking one's self up to continue whatever you were doing previously, Alyson finally made her way to her car. She set her books in the back seat, where they could do the least bit of harm. Out of site, out of mind. One last glance at the student parking lot told her that besides that random 11th grader she ran into, or rather, fell in front of because she didn't run into the door, she was the only other student (with a car) at campus. She always did like to take her time, but this was ridiculous. That must be some get together somebody was throwing.

She was about to enter her car and get out of that blasted parking lot when a faint ringing could be heard in her ears. She moaned and stuck her pinky finger in one ear, as if that could stop the sound.

"I REALLY have to see a doctor about this…"

Alyson had been having these random ringing sounds occur every now and then since as far back as she could remember. They were as regular as a fingernail clipping, or a cold. She didn't think that much of them, but they were annoying as hell to deal with at times. What would come next is slightly distorted vision with a moderate 'dizzy' feeling. These 'spells', though common, were still something Alyson had yet to get accustomed to. Whenever they happened she had to take a break from whatever she was doing, and just wait for it to pass. It was normally over in a minute or so, so she didn't think much of them. Alyson rested her head on the top of her car for a bit, waiting to regain her vision and normalcy when a slight breeze kicked up. Her long dark brown hair began to flutter. She saw something with her perihelia vision. Alyson looked up to the sky to see what it was.

"Maybe a different kind of doctor than I was thinking…" she whispered with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I must be losing my marbles."

She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision some, but the image she still saw was the same. There was a….girl? she thought, maybe, a girl in some crazy angel-slash-queen outfit staring at her from way up in the clouds. Except Alyson shouldn't have seen her, because not only was this girl in sky a small speck among puffy clouds, she was also well over a mile away. One mile away being the as the human eye could see. Alyson shook her head slowly and entered her car. She would definitely need a nap when she got home. Those spells were definitely getting to her. Maybe she needed a shrink.

She was about the start the motor to her car when something happen. She wasn't sure what had happened exactly though. Maybe there was a flash of light. Maybe there wasn't. It was one of those things that happen so fast you don't catch them, but you _know _they happen. There was a mild clunk, as if she had ran over something with the _middle_ of her car. Alyson peeked over the hood over her car tentatively to find a strange plant in front of it.

"What the hell?"

She opened her car door to find that her car, as well as herself, was now in the middle of some kind of exotic garden. Not exotic as in tropical, but exotic as in not-of-this-world type of exotic. Alyson paused for a moment, shifting her eyes to and fro', trying to get a grasp of the situation. Lots, and lots, and lots, and LOTS of plants surrounded her. She could hear about million birds chirping above. Um…what just happened? Curiosity got the better of her, and Alyson took a few steps around the garden, or what seemed to be a garden, and explored a little. She finally came to a pathway and stopped completely in her tracks. Her breath was taken back, and she was utterly frozen in place, like dear in headlights.

"Toto, you can screw Kansas…….I don't even think we are on Earth anymore…"

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End First Chapter.

I hope to update extremely soon, like in the next day or so, but for now I'll have to leave it at that. This was written on a day where I went to sleep for like 6-7 hours and woke up late at night. I couldn't find anything to do, so I wrote this. It's about 1:30 now though, and I supposed I should be doing something else. Meh, whatever. I hope you enjoy. Questions? Comments? Say them and maybe I'll fix whatever I screwed up.


	2. The Dramatic Chase Scene— Ten Fold

AN: Much longer in comparison to my last chapter. Doesn't exactly explain much or get into any kind of plot, but sort of continues the 'prolouge' set up, only more in depth and slightly more chaotic. Somewhere in the second paragraph, I start talking science and go into oxygen and bonds. Well the superscript is actually supposed to be subscript, but I couldn't find in anywhere in the computer. =/ It's read as 'O' sub 3 and "O" sub 2. If you don't understand that, then don't worry about it. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Angelique or any Angelique characters unfortunately.

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The Dramatic Chase Scene - - Ten Fold

A picturesque scene unfolded in front of Alyson as she cleared the bushes, only the thing was, it wasn't of this world. It was far too ethereal, far too peaceful, far too perfect, to be anything from earth. Beside that, the plants, fountains and buildings weren't anything she could recognize. This city, or town or whatever it was she was in, was strange to say the least. It was completely surrounded by blue, with no land stretching around it. Odd. Alyson walked slowly across the town, to one of the 'edges' and peeked over. She blinked a few times, her eyes wide with shock. Her breath stopped once again and she fell backwards on he butt, dumb founded. The city was floating. It, and everything on it, was floating in the sky. Below it was some kind of odd world with strange continents. What the heck was going on?

She got on he feet and steadied herself. 'Just breathe lightly,' she told herself. This was eerie. One minute she gets ready to go home like any other day, the next she gets zapped to some town in the air on a weird planet. Speaking of which, why wasn't she freezing her butt off? And how come she could breathe? Considering that she was a couple of miles up in the sky, temperature and the amount of oxygen in the air should be something to worry about. Well, maybe not the air. She might have been asleep in Physical Science when the professor went over that chapter, so she wasn't sure if it was this 'sphere', or the next that the air particles separated into O³ rather than O². The temperature, however, was something that _should_ have bothered her. Alyson had flown in airplanes enough times to know that the higher up you go, the colder it gets. That and the fact that her father was a Korean and Vietnam War Vet whom had about a million and two airplane stories. Even with her slightly baggy fleece jacket and denim jeans, Alyson should have at least felt a little bit nippy, but she wasn't. An unhealthy amount of bright, spring like sunshine shown on the city, making it feel warm. This was way too weird. Casting another glance around her surroundings, the young girl noticed that this island in the sky _seemed_ to be deserted. If it wasn't for the chirping birds, you'd think that there were no animals whatsoever up there. Not that animals were supposed to be in some floating sanctuary anyway.

After a bit of musing over he current situation, Alyson began to wander aimlessly around. Her little bit of exploration brought her to a large mansion like building. The massive doors resembled oak, but somehow, Alyson doubted that they were. She raised a balled fist to the door, ready to knock, but at the last minute decided against it. If there were people here, the loud slamming of her car on to one their gardens should have been enough of a hint that something was amiss. The large doors, surprisingly enough, were easy to open. Alyson was on tenterhooks as she took a few steps into the building. Inside was a maze of doors, corridors, and stairs. The halls were decorated like that of castle. Taking in all that was around her, Alyson forgot to announce that she was coming in. Someone important must live or work here she thought. Alyson began to meander around the hallways, pausing briefly every now and then to take in her surroundings or stare at one of the many rich paintings adorning the walls. Her legs got sore as she continued to walk along the endless corridors. Maybe she needed to rest. Well, she had past several doors already, and she was pretty sure there were several more to go. Perhaps she would just peek inside one to see if there was a chair that she could sit on. Alyson approached the nearest door and, and hesitantly turned the handle. Before she could get a solid grip on it, the door swung open by itself, making a sound that told anyone with a little common sense that the hinges needed some WD-40.

Inside, the room was rather. . . . flamboyantly decorated. Alyson poked her head in the door and looked around a bit. She spotted. . . . _something _in front of the mirror. A girl? A guy? A hermaphrodite? Well whatever it was, it continued to stare at its reflection. Alyson glanced over it again. Blond hair, with hot pink highlights. Lots of frills, lots of fabric, lots of bright colors, lots of make up, lots of inches on those _stiletto heels_. . . . a lot of _everything_. Once again Alyson found herself staring, and frozen, like a deer caught in headlights.

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?" it said with a slightly bored tone of voice, still staring into the mirror. "Look right now I…hmm?" It turned and saw a stunned Alyson peeking into its room. "Hello?" it asked curiously, "What have we here?"

As if a bolt of lightning had just hit him..er..her…whatever, he/she/it jolted up out of their chair and in a shrill, inhuman voice exclaimed, "I SENSE INSPIRATION!" as their eyes quickly scanned up and down the young girl.

If this were an anime, you could cue the sweat drop. Alyson, befuddled by this outburst of energy, did not reply. The person got up from the chair in front of vanity mirror, taking a few steps towards Alyson. For each step taken toward Alyson, she would even it out by taking another step out of the room and into the hallway.

"Now, now, don't be shy my pretty. I'm not going to hurt you."

An internal alarm went off as those words were uttered. Wasn't it the bad guys that said those types of things? Determining that this person was some sort of cross dressing, evil, mad scientist person, Alyson decided that it was in her best interest to not find out if her assumption was correction. Eventually she backed into the wall of the hallway. The person stared curiously at her. With nowhere else to back into and the other person closing the distance between them, Alyson blindly bolted down the hallway, taking any random path that presented itself. She was a fast runner, and was certain that she left whatever it was back at the place she ran away from. She decided to check behind her regardless, just to make sure. Given the place that she was in, that thing might have weird powers or something that would help her catch up to her. Alyson turned her head back, but kept running at the same time. To her relief, the thing wasn't behind her.

CRASH

Alyson had just collided into something from her lack of paying attention to where she was going. She rubbed her head and hopped onto to her feet before notice the figure before her. A person with long blond hair and almost gown-like robes had their back to her. Alyson helped the person up, apologizing as she did.

"Oh, I'm so sorry miss! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I accidentally ran into you. Let me help yo…" Alyson stopped mid-sentence. The 'lady' she was helping up was not a lady, but a man. Her mouth dropped as she stared. Her lack of blinking must have told him something was the matter. Breaking the minute long, awkward silence, Alyson hastily muttered yet another apology and dropped him, continuing to sprint down the hallways.

"Sorryaboutthat.Igottago,BYE!"

"Oof!" Alyson heard the man get reacquainted with the floor as she ran forward.

Scratch the earlier 'best interest' decision made, it was now in her best interest to get back to her car and somehow magically zap herself back to school, away from this . Enough with this building and its occupants who were confused about their sex. Enough with this world. She wanted to go back to her house and enjoy her weekend. After what seemed like forever, she finally found the same door that she used to enter the building, and she would now use to leave. Thank God. She darted back outside and tried to find her way around the many bushes, trees, and flowers. Despite the fact that she went through the same area earlier, Alyson was still unfamiliar with this place and could not find any recognizable landmarks. She would have to wander around again. Alyson was beginning to get out of breath. She slowed her pace down to an old person power walk and tried to find her way back to her car. As she made her way around various foliage, Alyson heard a strange kind of mechanical sound and peered upward to see what it was. A large metallic bird swoop downwards at Alyson. She jumped out of the way just in time for the bird to miss her.

"AHHH!" she screamed as she jumped.

The bird leveled itself and turned once again to the girl. It charged at her, and once again she screamed. Alyson side stepped the bird and found herself running, once again. She wasn't sure where she was going, but with that robotic beast hot on her trail, it really didn't matter. Another building came into site and she pressed forward. She had to get inside. He lungs were burning from all the activity. She could hear the bid getting closer. With a final dash for the building, Alyson threw open the door bolted inside. In a flash she shut and latched the door locked. There was a large THUMP as the stupid bird collided with the door. Serves that damn thing right. Out of breath, and utterly tired, Alyson plopped herself on the floor and leaned against the door. She wheezed a few times, her breath hard, and quick.

"What did I do to deserve this?" she whined pathetically.

A few looks around her told Alyson that she was in that same accursed building that she fled not too long ago. Alyson's ears perked up as she heard footsteps approaching from a hallway. She struggled to get to her feet. A sharp pain shot threw her left lung and side. She grimaced and gripped it with her right arm as she slowly began to climb a set of stairs that lead to the second floor. She was about half way up, when the 'lady' she ran into earlier, along with 'it' and a young man with short brown hair entered the room. That guy could have passed for a prince, except for the fact that he was wearing what seemed to be tights. Bad mental images of poorly made Robin Hood movies flashed in her mind. Ugh, as if she didn't have enough to worry about.

"There she is!" the prince cried, pointing at Alyson on the stairs. Great, just great. The trio of 'things' began their chase of the young girl. Alyson began to whine again as she sped already tired limbs up once more. She flung open the nearest door and darted inside. A quick glance around revealed that she was in a library of some sort. She took a few hurried steps forward until she saw a blue hair man, with short hair and a turban. Wow. Two man ladies, one Robin Hood wannabe, and a white Aladdin. This was some nut house.

"Oh, hello," he said calmly with a hint of a question in his voice. "Can I help you?"

The magical words she wanted to hear. Finally, there was some guy that wasn't trying to chase her. Alyson gave a mental sigh of relief as she approached the man. "Please . . . . .huff-puff. . . . . please," she panted, "hide me…" She paused from speaking for a moment to catch her breath.

"I need to find a safe place to hide," she explained. Her speech began to pick up pace as spoke. "I some how crashed here after I just got into my car and I decided to look around right? So anyway, I was like 'woah' when I saw we where way up in the sky, so I went inside this building and met some weird scientist who was going to do something weird to me so I ran away, then I crashed into a lady who really was a guy and then I went outside and some crazy thing tried to kill me and I ran for my life and then got inside this building RIGHT after I just left it, and then those people I said earlier with this new kid started chasing me and now I…!"

"Woah, slow down a bit when you talk."

"Please," Alyson begged, "Just, don't tell anyone I'm here." With that she plunged behind one of the nearby shelves. Alyson took a few deep, and silent breaths, waiting to see what would happen next. She listened carefully at the scene going on behind her.

POV Change

The doors to Luva's study burst open revealing an upset Julious. Behind him were Randy and Olivie. They browsed around the room looking for the intruder that suddenly appeared in their city.

"Luva, you haven't seen a strangely dressed girl come into this room have you?" the head guardian questioned with an agitated tone.

"Hm? A strange girl you say?" Luva asked. Could he possibly be referring to the young lady that asked for his assistance just moments ago?

"We saw her run into your study just a minute or so ago," Randy explained.

"I feel sorry for the poor dear," Olivie moaned. "I mean she's been running for such a long time, and in_ those_ clothes. She's probably tired and confused…"

"Now is not the time to empathize with the intruder Olivie," Julious chastised. "Luva, have you, or have you not seen her?"

"Ah well," the blue haired man started. Before he could finish, quick steps could be heard in the room. The four guardians looked behind them to find an open window with fluttering curtains without a breeze.

POV Change

Alyson, having heard enough of that brief conversation, had to find a way out of that library. Clearly, she was not welcomed in this place. Not that she wanted to stay. The window nearby was as good as any way out. Hopefully, she didn't make that loud of a sound when she jumped out of the two-story window. Her breath was loud and heavy again. Alyson's heart must have been pounding at a hundred miles per hour. Her entire body was soar. She desperately wanted to take a break from all the chasing.

"Now I know what an episode of Scooby-Doo feels like, without the Dooby," she cried to herself. She sighed and continued to speak out load to herself. There is only one of three way this could possibly happen:

1)She was dead

2)She was asleep

3)She was high

She began to ponder over which theroy would be the most correct when Alyson's one minute break as cut short by a deep, masculine voice that called out to her. A horse hoof beating against the grass made her head snap up. He called out to her again, but the most Alyson could make out of it was that it was some sort of cheesy pick up line. Her eyes grew wide and she balled herself up against the wall. She was caught. Sensing her anxiety, the man dismounted his steed and walked towards her. Alyson watched the man draw closer and she braced herself. The man, or more appropriately, the knight, by his clothing, squatted down beside Alyson and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. His piercing blue eyes were level with hers and his firey red hair glowed in the sunlight.

"Hey missy, you don't need to be afraid of me," he cooed, "I don't bite." At that comment, the knight grinned slightly. "Well, maybe a little."

"OSCAR!"

Both Alyson's and the knight's heads shot up. They saw four other heads sticking out of the window, each belonging to a person that was in the library.

"What the devil do you think you're doing?!?" the 'lady' cried.

"Huh? Julio…augh!" Before Oscar could finish his sentence, Alyson had pushed, or more appropriately, shoved, him away from her and began fleeing yet again. An idea struck her. She mounted the knight's horse, and snapped the reins while kicking the horse's side. It reared up on its hind legs, and Alyson gripped the reins tighter to stay on.

"AH! Woah, hey! Good Horsieeeeeeeeeeee……." Alyson's voice trailed off as the horse galloped into the gardens.

The horse wildly galloped through the gardens, which seemed to get thicker as it continued. Soon it looked like the poor girl was in some kind of forest. She had to watch out for low branches, otherwise she'd get smacked in the face and off of the horse.

"Woah! Darn it you stupid horse! I said woah! That means stop, damn it! Don't you ever watch cowboy movies?!?" she wailed.

Another low branch was coming up swiftly. This time though, Alyson though she might pull off one of those movie star moves and jump from the horse onto the branch. There was no way she could stay on that thing any longer. She readied herself as the branch approached quickly.

1

2

3

JUMP!

She leapt into the air, and her hands connected with the branch. Score. She watched as the horse continue to run into the woods / garden. She mentally cursed the stupid thing and hoped it would get eaten by wolves or something. Alyson brought her attention back to herself and the branch. She began to lift herself onto it, but with much difficulty. The branch was not as sturdy as she thought. It kept wobbling and moving as she got both elbows over the side. Alyson breathed a sigh of relief for a moment. She heard something snap and looked to her left to notice that it was branch. Damn. The branch broke off, and down came tumbling our heroine. This was just not her day. Alyson crashed onto the ground with a large tree branch on top of her. She cried out in pain and then stared at her left foot which she injured during the falling. It was sprained.

"And that, kiddies, is why you should never do stunts at home," she joked, wallowing in her own cynicism. Alyson winced as she got to her feet. Walking with a sprained ankle was no fun. She looked back at the tree she just fell from. It was a good climbing tree with a lot of branches and thick with leaves. Perfect for hiding. She would just have to be extra careful when choosing branches, especially with one injured foot.

"Are you sure she came this way Clavis?" Julious questioned.

"My crystal ball is never wrong."

"I didn't say it was," the blond haired guardian retorted, "but are you sure that girl came this way?"

"…"

"Fresh horse tracks around here show that the horse ran this way not too long ago," Oscar confirmed.

Julious, Luva, Oscar, Randy, and Olivie had been searching for this new comer for sometime now. The day was almost over, and in frustration, Julious had recruited Luminale and Clavis in the search. They were now scouting one of the most farthest outskirts of the floating city. Clavis was in the lead with Luminale at his side. He raised his arms slowly to stop the rest of the group from waling farther.

"She's near," Clavis muttered.

"Good, we can finally find her and…"

"No." Clavis cut off Julious. "Stay here. Luminale and I will fetch the girl."

"That would be a good idea." Everyone turned to Luva and watched him. "The girl seems to be frightened of us. If she saw anyone of the rest of us, she would more than likely try to flee again. She hasn't met Luminale or Clavis yet, so our best bet is with those two."

Reluctantly, Julious nodded. "You two be careful though. We don't know if this intruder is dangerous or not."

Clavis laughed under his breath. "Scared of a little girl, Guardian of Light?"

Julious gritted his teeth but said nothing at the Guardian of Darkness' comment. Sometimes it was just better to say nothing at all. Luminale and Clavis continued to walk forward while the rest of the group waited behind. The pair walked silently until they reach a broken branched on the ground. Both of them look upwards into the tree tops.

"You can come out now," Clavis said in a monotone voice.

No reply.

Luminale smiled softly at the trees. "Yes, you don't have to fear us young one. We won't harm you."

Still no reply.

Alyson, still up in the tree tops, had been in her hiding place for some time now. Her body ached and she really needed ice for her ankle. She thought she might have to sleep amongst the birds tonight when two voices called out to her from below. She didn't answer them. No doubt they were apart of that group of people that were after her.

"She is a stubborn one, isn't she?" Luminale commented, smile still on his face.

"Let's rest here for a moment," Clavis replied.

The two men sat at the base of the tree. They said nothing more to each other, or to her. The girl kept completely silent, praying that these people would just leave her the heck alone. She waited. Nothing happened. No one climbing up the try to pull her out. No one throwing things at the tree in hopes that she would fall out…again. No one screaming, or yelling, or talking to her. A feeling of peace and gentleness swept through her. One of the men below began to strum a harp lightly. The sound it made was utterly beautiful. She relaxed a bit as the notes floated into one ear and out the other. Alyson began to move around in the tree tops. She was trying to arrange the branches in a way that would allow her to see who these men were, and at the same time not muffle the music as much. As she wiggled around, Alyson lost her footing on the tree. Her lost balance caused a miscellaneous leg to dangle from the treetops. Alyson uttered silent curses under her breath at her rotten luck today. The branches began to sway as she attempted to cover her exposed limb, but alas, fate was against her and soon after, the rest of her body followed suit. She yelled at the top of her lungs as she once again, came crashing down. What was it with her and falling today? She smashed into ground in front the two men, wincing and wrapping her arms around her body. Today was not her day.

Clavis and Luminale could hear the trees rustling above them. Moments later the young girl they were searching for tumbled out of the trees and out to the ground, but not before sending a distressed yelp that could be heard clear across the universe. That would, no doubt, have the other guardians running into the scene any moment now. Not that it really mattered anymore. She rolled on the ground for a bit, but didn't say a word or cry. Funny, normally people are more vocal _after_ they get an injury, not before. Clavis and Luminale stood up and walked to the girl's side. They crouched down to where she was and made sure she was fine. Her clothes were tattered, and she had cuts and bruises all over her, but other than that she was fine. The two men stood up and watched her cling to herself. Luminale gave her a worried expression and offered a hand up when the other guardians came running in.

"We heard someone yell," Oscar said, pointing out the obvious. The other guardians looked at the girl on the ground. "Oh, must have been her."

"Finally, this goose chase can end," Julious remarked. His mouth shut soon after as the girl rose to her feet. Everyone was silent, waiting to see what she'd do next. The girl looked forward and noticed Clavis and Luminale in front of her. She froze in place, shocked it would seem, to be face to face with two of her 'pursuers'. She began to back away from the two, oblivious to the fact that she was surrounded. She limped backwards, like an injured animal, until she unexpectedly bumped into something.

"I love it when women make the first move!" an all too familiar voice happily cried.

She spun around, only to confirm her fear that she was surrounded. Crap.

"What do you people want from me?!?" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She began to back away from Oscar as she spoke, but wasn't paying attention to herself. With her sprained ankle, she took one step back, only to have her own foot collapse underneath her. The knight's arm bolted out and caught Alyson's in time before she fell.

"Careful there now little lady," he said as he steadied her, "Would want you to hurt yourself."

'Imbecile,' she thought, 'I'm _already_ injured.'

Once she was steadied, Alyson tried to free her arm from the knight's grip, but he wouldn't let go. She was too tired and that damn knight just refused to remove his hand from her persons.

"Let me go you freak!"

"Ah," Oscar joking cried, "Your cruel words get me right here miss." He pointed to his heart with his free hand.

"We have a lot of questions we wish to ask to miss," Julious said in a stern voice.

'And just what makes you think I'm going to answer them you arrogant…'

"I'm afraid those will have to wait until later," Luminale commented, interrupting Alyson mid-thought. "It seems as though she has injured herself."

"Not only that," Olivie interrupted, "But by the looks of things the poor child needs foods and rest. Let's get her back to the mansion."

"Why should I go with you?" the girl questioned in an angry tone.

"You need to rest and have that ankle looked after." Alyson looked over at Clavis as he spoke. He was one of the men that tricked her out of the tree, making her more suspicious of him.

"Like you care. Besides why should I trust any of you?"

"You trusted me earlier." Luva interrupted. Alyson turned her gaze from the black robed man to Luva. It was that guy from before…

"Please, let us help you," Luminale said tenderly.

Confused, Alyson looked around at all face surrounding her. So what, it was customary here to chase the living daylights out of new people until the end up injury themselves so they can't get away? Just what the hell was going on? Whatever it was, there was only one way to find out. She would have to play their game and go to their house, and ask them questions there.

"Here milday, let me carry you back to our humble home," Oscar offered with a wink.

"I don't want your help," Alyson replied stubbornly.

Oscar shrugged.

"Well if you don't want me to carry you, I can always get you a horse."

End Chapter.

How was that? Good Bad? I'd like to hear opinions! This chapter alone was 7 pages MS Word. I spent quite a bit of time on the compy writing it. Considering that I finished the first part around 3 am this same morning, and I'm updating the story again around 10 pm at night, you could basically say that I did chapter 12 (5700 words) in one day. Quite a feet for someone as lazy as I. ;; Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out what next will happen to our little heroine!


	3. Anxiety

Howdy everyone. After forever and day, I have updated. I more than certain though I used the words 'girl, wander, and mystery' far too often for it to be anything good. I'm sure there are a few mistakes, so I'll probably go back and re-edit later on. Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: Angelique and all it's characters are owned by Koei and other respective owners. Which doesn't include me. If I did own it, I'd bring it to the USA.

On a lighter note there is a rumor going around that Koei may localize it! crosses fingers

**Anxiety**

Her hard breathing pattern finally normalized. She no longer was gasping for air as she sat motionlessly on the bed. Her quick in and out takes of air were completely soundless. The bowl of fruit and pitcher of water by her bedside lay untouched. Her eyes scanned the room that lay before her – she seemed to want to get a full baring of her surroundings. Occasionally, the young girl's head would turn, allowing her view of the bedchamber to wander. How odd this mystery girl is, Luminale thought.

After being brought back to sanctuary, without any exchange of words, she was lead into room where the present guardians either filed out and back into their own chambers or set about getting things set up for her. She stood in place watching Luminale, Julious, and Luva prepare her accommodations, her hawk-like eyes never leaving the three men before her. Sometime between the scuttling, she managed over to the bed and continued her study of the guardians. Luva laid thee refreshments on the nightstand, while Luminale readied the first aid kit for use. After finishing his tasks, the Earth guardian bowed politely before taking his leave, leaving the Guardian of Light to watch over the Guardian of Water's handy work on the mystery guest. Luminale scooted a chair close to the girl and gave her a tender smile before her started to ready the gauze and antiseptic. He dabbed the gauze just a little bit wet and lowered it to one of many cuts before she finally responded for the first time that day.

"Don't touch it," she commanded. Her voice was stern, and unwavering. Her eyes were fixed in a dead stare on Julious who was by the doorway. Or was her gaze meant for the doorway and Julious was simply in the vicinity of the stare? It was a possibility given her early actions. The sound of her voice stopped the water guardian from starting his task.

"But it needs to be treated. You could get an infection if you leave yourself uncared for." He once again attempted to start the task that was presented before him.

"I said don't touch it." Her voice was louder and more commanding. Her stare had now settled on the blue haired man before her. Sensing tension, Luminale decided the best thing would be to do as was requested or rather, told, of him and decided to move on. His expression softened from surprised to relaxed.

"Very well then, shall I look at your ankle? Or perhaps heal some of the bruises that have formed on yo--"

"No."

An eerie silence fell in the room. The thickening tension in the air allowed Julious's irate features become more prominent.

"It'll heal by itself." Luminale gave an unsure glance back to his superior, then to the girl before him. More silence.

"Perhaps it's best if we leave her alone for some time to get some rest," the guardian of light reasoned.

Luminale gave an agreeing 'hmm' and a nod as he rose and met with Julious by the exit. Before the Guardian of Water could offer a 'good bye', he was drug outside of the bedroom by Julious and into the chamber next to it – which happen to be Clavis's. Clavis continued to mind his tarot cards without giving any regards to the two new occupants in his room.

"I want to keep a watch on this girl," Julious barked. "Until we can be sure of her intention, I want to make sure she has someone always watching her to keep her from causing anymore trouble in the sanctuary."

Julious walked to the wall separating the Guardian of Dark, placed his hand on it, and began chanting in a low whisper. A faint glow emanated from the bottom of his palm, and a small space in the wall became transparent.

"Having this girl's chambers beside that of a guardian will allow at least one of us to act in time should any problems arise. I want at least one other guardian in here also keeping watch on her with you Clavis." He removed his hand and turned to the others. "Of course, I'll send another guardian periodically to relieve the others. If there are any sudden…" Julious stopped to search for the right words, "developments in her actions, immediately contact me."

And so, here sat Luminale his best friend's room, doing what he deemed somewhat inappropriate and somewhat perverted. Of course they were keeping an eye on her, but wasn't it also like peeping? Thankfully, she hadn't undressed yet, otherwise he'd be in a compromising situation. The water guardian stayed in his seat watching the visitor from another world patiently behind the illusion setup by Julious.

"Is she still in the same place?" Clavis asked from across the room.

"Mmm."

"You're worried I take it?"

"Yes I am," the light haired man replied. "She is behaving oddly. Of course, I don't know what her normal behavior is like, however it fairs much differently from when Queen Angelique and Rosalia first arrived. Perhaps that is because they were prepared for the Queen examination, however, I am certain that any girl would have at least asked questions about her whereabouts or have treated herself whenever Julious and I left." Luminale turned to Clavis.

"Do you think she is aware of the illusion?"

Clavis shrugged. "It's a possibility, though I highly doubt it."

"Knock knock!" came a third voice from outside of the room. Oscar's firey red head popped in. "Luminale your shift is up."

The Guardian of Water elegantly rose from his seat, his head still turned towards the visitor.

"I hope she at least manages to eat something or she might pass out from exhaustion." He turned to Clavis and nodded before exiting silently.

The fire guardian plopped down on the designated seat where the previous guardian kept his vigil - one arm sprawled across the back of the chair while his muscular build slouched at a rather obtuse angle. His cape was draped on the floor and his ankles were cross on top of another. He cast his eyes in the direction of the magical window that connect the two rooms. Oscar notice that the visitor's muscles were still tightened with anticipation. She was ready, but for what? Everything in her room still remained completely untouched.

"Sooo… I guest she's been this way for a while?" he asked.

"It would seem so," Clavis replied in a flat, yet somewhat sarcastic tone. He continued to preoccupy himself with the tarot cards.

Oscar glanced back at the girl then at Clavis. He shrugged and a smirk formed on his face.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were twins."

It had been quite a while for Alyson to sit there and do nothing, even if she was used to doing it. Her throat was parched, and her stomach churned with hunger. Alyson's mouth began to salivate savagely as the smell of fresh fruit invaded her nostrils. Even so, she sat motionless, taking in everything, anything, all that had happened, and all the _might_ happen. He placid demeanor betrayed nothing as her mind planned - no, calculated mutely.

Earlier, her thoughts were jumbled because of the fast pace of event. However, once she was in that damned house again, she could regain her control and sort things into their rightful place. She recalled where she had been, and which area lead to where. While her brain was on autopilot for formulating a plan B (plan A being try to escape by running away at every available opportunity – officially deemed as a 'failed' attempt), her eyes scoured the room. Aside from hunger and thirst, her body began to feel restless and long to be stretched out and moved, though she dared not. The hair on her arms were still standing and she couldn't get her muscles to relax, despite several attempts.

'I know they are watching me,' she thought.

Against better her better digression, Alyson began to fidget. She was one of those people who just could sit still for extremely long periods of time. She began to bounce on her bed slightly, making note of just how soft it was. Afterwards she stood up, but then stopped. She could feel someone's watch intensify. A few minutes passed by and she decided to press forward. She took a deep breath and began to hobble around the room as best she could with an injured ankle, careful to take soft, soundless footsteps as she traversed across the plush carpet. Once she deemed the area secure, she gently place her hands on the nightstand near the bed. Dare she consume something? Even if she decided against the food she absolutely needed something to drink – a person could go for weeks without food, but would perish within days without water. Alyson eyed the water suspiciously. It was far easier to poison someone's drink than food. She would not chance it. Not yet.

Alyson pushed her hunger and thirst away, and became bolder as her hand carefully slipped into the nightstand's handle. Pulling it open, she found that inside lay . . . nothing. Her lips formed a slight frown at her discovery. She closed the drawer, and, curiosity getting the better of her, began to search other various places – under the mattress, under the bed, in the closet, etc. The only note worth item she found was a pink nightgown – most probably laid out for her use - to which she wrinkled her nose. Pink was not her color. During her search, her muscles had loosened up and she began to relax.

With her investigation of the bedchamber seemingly complete, Alyson leaned against the wall and stare and some of the photos and painting hanging. Across from her hung an interesting painting of a blond woman. She strolled over to the wall and inspected it carefully. At one point, she raised her hand to touch it, feeling the dry paint caress the bottom of the fingertips. She traced her fingers onto the oak framing and then to wall. She absent-mindly began to move to the next painting, leaving her hand behind to trace the wall. She was about to round the corner of her room for the umpteenth time that night when she felt her fingers fall. Her eyes widened and she stopped. She managed to catch her arm and make it seem as if her hand hadn't fallen into that blank, but that's not what worried her. She had now just confirmed what her instincts told her. They were watching her all this time, and through this part of the wall. After walking the rest of the wall length, trying to keep what she discovered hidden, she made a beeline for her bed and sat again, recalculating and formulating what to do.

'Let's assess the situation,' she thought internally. 'This could be a potentially danger place for me, so do I run, or stand my ground? So far, I haven't come across any extremely hostile behavior, however I have to take into account that it very may turn out to be that way later on. Still though, for a place that _might_ be hostile, the setup is just far too – pretty. The way the people are dressed, the up keep of the gardens, the halls, the chambers – the way things are decorated and even the way those people have acted towards me so – so far lead me to believe that I'm not in any serious danger here. Or perhaps I'm being mislead into thinking that. The fact I'm being observed so closely points to that. If they would try to trick me though, what would they gain? And why would they go through the trouble of attempting to clean my cuts and even fetch me clothing to wear for the night? Still, these thing may be tricks in order to gained my trust.' Alyson cleared her thoughts for the first time that day, and took a deep breath before admitting to herself one clear and major point.

'So it boils down to me either having the balls to do something, or just sitting around and waiting for fate to come a pick a destiny for me.'

With a steely resolve, she glance at the spot where they were watching her, and then to the door. Alyson struggled to the door and then began to half limp, half walk out of her room.

Oscar head was titled back, his eyes shut in a light sleep. While on watch, he managed to doze off. Clavis shook his head lightly and rose from his seat behind his desk. He was planning on visiting the spring nearby to get some peace when his ears picked up the faint stirring of the young girl in the adjacent room. His eyes peered into the next room to see her figure bounce lightly on the bed. Clavis quietly watched mysterious visitor cautiously, and it seemed, a bit painstakingly, explore her room.

"What a curious little girl," he commented.

Upon hearing the Guardian of Dark's deep voice, Oscar's head rose from his nap. He used his right thumb and forefinger to clear his vision before glancing back at charge.

"So, she's alive eh?" He leaned forward and propped both his elbows on top of his kneecaps. He clasp his hands together and rest his chin on them, all the while looking forward intently on her next actions. Both men watched and wondered at what her next move would be, their eyes tracing her movements. From the nightstand and the bed, to the closet and dresser, her body and their eyes played a game of cat and mouse.

"I see she didn't bother to wrap that ankle of hers," Oscar commented. At times she would alternate between dragging her foot and limping while she trekked to and from one side of the room to another.

Currently she was standing near the wall, by one of the painting of the former Queen Angelique. After she was satisfied with whatever she was looking for, the black haired girl walked dangerously close to where the guardians stood. Their eyes grew wide and both held their breath as she absent-mindly passed by. Her fingers slipped from the edge of the wall and just barely into magical window before they stopped midair. She had stopped walking, but a few moments later, she continued her walk, with her fingers grazing just the top of the illusion before finding their place back onto the wall. Once finished, she sat back on her bed again. The guardians of fire and dark turned to each, both with a concerned expression on their faces.

"Do you think she noticed?"


End file.
